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CWU Welcomes Santander Jobs Staying in Belfast

The Communication Workers Union today (Tuesday) welcomes news that the Alliance and Leicester Belfast Mortgage Processing operation, owned by Santander, is to remain in the city. This follows months of uncertainly following the takeover of A&L in 2009.

Nigel Cotgrove, CWU National Officer, said: "We have been pushing to keep this work in Belfast and welcome the announcement which secures the future of over 75jobs and brings to an end a year of uncertainty.

"This is an early Christmas present for our dedicated members at Alliance and Leicester in Belfast. We're delighted that Santander has recognised the importance of the staff's knowledge and skills to their operation. "News of job security is obviously welcome to our members and it's also good news for Belfast. Northern Ireland needs jobs at this time of recession." The work currently done at Royal Avenue will be relocating to the Santander Mays Meadow site over the coming weeks. While a handful of jobs will not relocate due to a change in operational arrangements, the CWU has ensured that any displaced staff will have the opportunity to redeploy or retrain. Should any job losses become necessary there will be the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy.

-Ends- For more information please contact: SianJones, Press Officer, tel:020 8971 7267, mobile: 0779 3314249, e-mail: sbjones@cwu.org

LawrenceHuston, Northern Ireland Regional Secretary, mobile:07802787733, e-mail: northerirelandregion@cwu.org

Kevin Slocombe, Head of Communications,mobile:07714504413, e-mail: kslocombe@cwu.org